The Biden administration showed off its new website, COVID.gov, Wednesday, more than two years into the COVID-19 pandemic.
The site was created to serve as a “one-stop shop” for information about the pandemic, including where to get masks and what types offer certain levels of protection, where to get vaccinated, free testing kits and treatment options for those infected. President Joe Biden announced the launch of the site as he received his second booster vaccine dose, which was recently authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Today, I am announcing the launch of https://t.co/6n8TiI4gII. A one-stop shop where anyone in America can find what they need to navigate the virus. pic.twitter.com/Vmei02hkfT
— President Biden (@POTUS) March 30, 2022
Today, our Administration is launching https://t.co/NDM1ko6LYN, a new one-stop shop website to help all people in the U.S. gain even better access to lifesaving tools like vaccines, tests, treatments, and masks, as well as get the latest updates on COVID-19 in their area. pic.twitter.com/ps5ZPg1fQH
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 30, 2022
“Free vaccines and boosters, free at-home tests, high quality masks, and for the latest information about the level of COVID-19 spread in your community, you can get that immediately,” Biden said at a press conference.
Most of the information and resources on the site are not new. Much of it also isn’t hosted at COVID.gov. The mask, treatment and vaccines resources all redirect to outside sites, such as CDC.gov and vaccines.gov. The community transmission level data imports from data already available on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website. (RELATED: Biden’s New COVID Czar Was America’s Leading Lockdown Advocate)
Some observers poked fun at the fact that it took the United States more than two years, and the Biden administration 14 months, to construct the website. Others joked that the site was launching “just in time,” not long after Biden promised the country it would be moving on from the pandemic in his State of the Union address.
Wow just in time https://t.co/em4rK1h5WF
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) March 30, 2022
14 months in. Bravo. https://t.co/Luqqc9GsMr
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) March 30, 2022
Just in time, too! https://t.co/gWw8ZZfxVA
— Thomas G Phippen (@ThomasPhippen) March 30, 2022
why did this take 14 months
— the great philouza (@philouzatweets) March 30, 2022
— Andrew Kerr (@AndrewKerrNC) March 30, 2022
*checks calendar*
Two years, two months, and 10 days after the first case in the US. Absolutely wild. https://t.co/LMQEXhagvH
— Kyle Putnam (@agentkyle) March 30, 2022
More than two years into pandemic and more than a year into Biden’s presidency: https://t.co/2aQSVg3qUs
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) March 30, 2022
Polling indicates that a majority of Americans have been ready to move on to post-COVID life, while all fifty states have dropped indoor mask mandates. 81% of Americans aged five and older already have at least one vaccine dose, and nationwide deaths continue to decline at one of the lowest levels of the pandemic.